Friend in Need
by AquaTurquoise
Summary: Cedric, Sofia, and Baileywick take a trip to a local market, unaware that they are being watched by Slickwell, who wants revenge on Sofia for her interference with his plans last time. (References to my stories "Kingly" and possibly "At First Sight" in here :D)


Friend in Need

Summary: Cedric, Sofia, and Baileywick take a trip to a local market, unaware that they are being watched by Slickwell, who wants revenge on Sofia for her interference with his plans last time.

Disclaimer: I don't own the show.

A/N: Well, this story has been a long time coming, and now it's finally arrived. It will _not_ be a chapter story so will be fairly long. Brace yourselves! Lol. Go get some popcorn and settle in. ;) And away we go!

Sofia skipped happily through the market as Cedric trailed behind her with Baileywick. She had talked them both into visiting the market with her for two reasons: so she wouldn't have to go alone, and so they would have a break. The king and queen were on a business trip, and the twins were gone to Tangu with Zandar, Hildegard, and Clio. Sofia stayed behind so she and Cedric could practice some more advanced spells. Besides that, she just wanted to stay around the castle to relax. Sometimes the go-go-go of royal life was a bit exhausting.

"I really should get back to the castle, Princess Sofia," Baileywick suggested as he glanced at his pocket watch once more. "I don't want to leave Violet alone for too long."

"She's polishing utensils," Cedric replied dryly. "I doubt she needs your expertise on that."

"Yes, but she gets anxious if I am away too long… I'm in charge anyway."

Sofia giggled. "We won't be much longer. I just wanted to check out a few booths, and then we can head back. Besides, it's a pretty day. We should enjoy it!"

"Well…" Baileywick smiled, giving in to Sofia's pouting look. "I suppose things will be all right for a while. I do have some seconds in command in case something should happen, and they know what they're doing."

"Good!" The young princess beamed and took his hand, dragging him along. "Then they won't mind if I steal you for a little while."

"The only one who'll miss _me_ is Wormy," Cedric added with a yawn as he followed them. "He should be all right though."

"Are you certain he'd miss you, Cedric?" Baileywick grinned at his sometimes friend. "Perhaps he enjoys the peace and quiet for a change."

"Oh, very clever, Baileywick." He folded his arms and glowered at the steward.

"I knew I heard the sound of a whining sorcerer."

Cedric groaned. "I know that voice anywhere."

The three Enchancian inhabitants paused and turned around, seeing Greylock standing with his arms folded and a smug look on his face.

"Mr. Greylock!" Sofia smiled happily, released Baileywick's hand, and ran forward, hugging the taller man. "What are you doing here?"

The brown-haired sorcerer knelt to the girl and smiled at her. "Ah, Princess Sofia. I think you've grown some since I last saw you." He chuckled as she giggled. "I'm actually on a mission for King Magnus. He's gotten word that Slickwell is on the move, and I'm tracking him down."

Cedric raised an eyebrow at his fellow sorcerer. "So what? Now you're some 'double agent' for King Magnus or something?"

"You could say that, but hush. We mustn't discuss this too loudly." He stood as Sofia made her way back to Baileywick. "You never know just who might be listening. And I'm afraid our dear friend Baileywick may not be his only target if Slickwell indeed _is_ on the move."

Baileywick blinked. "You don't mean…" He glanced down at the princess, who blinked innocently up at him. "But she's just a child."

"Since when do criminals have a moral conscience, Baileywick?" Cedric wielded his wand. "If that dancing buffoon thinks he stands a chance, I say let him try, but he won't be getting past me. I'll protect you, Sofia."

She grinned. "What about Baileywick?"

"Eh, Greylock can protect him."

Baileywick glared at the sorcerer. "Some friend you are."

"We are not friends." He smirked at the stern look he received before rolling his eyes. "Fine. We're not enemies, but we're still not friends. We're…acquaintances."

"Whatever you say, Cedric."

While the quartet decided to head back to the castle for safety, an unmistakable pair of icy blue eyes peered from beneath a gray hooded robe as the cloaked figure stared down the group and slowly followed after them.

"…And then, when he wasn't looking, I swiped his shoes and took off running!" Greylock concluded with a hearty laugh as Cedric glared at him pointedly from across the table where they were sitting in the dining room. Sofia had asked her friends to have dinner with her so she wouldn't be lonely, and they'd graciously—more like greedily—taken her up on her offer.

"Yes," Cedric drawled as he tapped his fingers on the table. "I believe that's also when the professor caught you and served you with a week's detention."

"For stealing your shoes?" Sofia asked in surprise.

"Oh, he forgot to mention that he also blew up a lab table, didn't he?" the Enchancian sorcerer added with a smirk.

Greylock rolled his eyes. "Details, details. The point is, Cedric, you're always good for a laugh, even if detention comes at my expense." He chuckled.

Baileywick sighed as he finally sat down with the trio so he could begin eating. "I hope everything is to everyone's liking, because I am _not_ getting up again."

Sofia giggled from her place across from him. "Everything is great, Baileywick. You just relax and eat. I'll take care of the dishes!"

"Oh, I couldn't ask you to do that, Princess Sofia."

"You didn't. I volunteered." She winked as she pulled out her training wand—the new one Cedric had crafted for her a while ago with its shimmering purple coating. "Besides, Mr. Cedric already taught me a spell for that."

"Naturally," Greylock acknowledged with a grin. "If it's a spell for minimizing daily tasks, old Cedric here knows it."

"I wouldn't be so cheeky if I were you," Cedric informed him with a raised eyebrow. "You know quite a few of those spells yourself—and use them on frequent occasions, if I recall correctly."

"Do you two _always_ argue this much?" the steward inquired as he gazed back and forth between the sorcerers.

"Yes," they responded simultaneously.

Sofia smiled as Baileywick glanced at her for clarification. "From what I've seen…but they're really good friends. The best friends are the ones who get on your nerves at least a little bit." She nudged Cedric playfully. "Isn't that right, Mr. Cedric?"

He rolled his eyes before shooting her a playful glance. "I think that was truer when you had a bout of amnesia with remembering how to say my name correctly your first year here, but I concur."

She giggled.

"Princess Sofia," one of the guards announced as he walked into the room. Given that she was the only royal family member around, he figured it best to give all notifications to her. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but there is a visitor requesting your presence."

"A visitor got all the way to the castle doors that easily?" Greylock asked suspiciously. "Something doesn't sound right about that, Princess."

She glanced back at her friends before handing Cedric her wand, standing up, and walking toward the guard. "Who is it?"

The guard gestured toward the gray-cloaked man who was led by two other guards. "He calls himself 'Lord Clewskill' of 'Dugbay Land' or something or other."

"What kind of a land name is 'Dugbay?'" Cedric asked with a roll of his eyes.

Sofia ignored him and smiled gently up at the cloaked man. "Um, hi. I'm Princess Sofia. How can I help you, Lord…Clewskill?"

The cloaked figure cleared his throat and clutched his robe tighter. "Well," he began, a slightly gravelly voice escaping through his lips, "I'm told that you have quite an affinity for helping people."

The princess blinked at this statement before laughing shyly. "Well… I just try to be helpful to all people if I can. It's in my nature, I guess."

Baileywick frowned and stood, walking up behind the girl. "However, perhaps since the princess is so young, maybe I may assist you? I'm Baileywick, the steward of Enchancia, and all matters are passed through me when the royal family is not available for assistance."

"Oh, I see," Lord Clewskill answered with a chuckle. "As tempting as it is to get help from the ever-beloved Baileywick, I'd prefer to speak with Princess Sofia herself. After all, is she not the one responsible for overseeing the fall of so many different enemies?"

Cedric glanced toward Greylock, who shot him the same concerned look before standing up, wands ready.

"Really, Lord Clewskill," Sofia began while taking a minor step back, bumping into Baileywick, "I just…do what's right."

"Hmm." The man reached up to his cloak and asked rather harshly, "And was it _right_ to interfere with my desire to obtain a substantial job from this old and bumbling fool?" He ripped away the cloak, revealing himself to be…

"Slickwell!" Baileywick gasped, grabbing Sofia's arm and pushing her behind him. "I should have known… Clewskill—Slickwell. Nice anagram. What exactly is your problem with our princess?"

"She meddled in affairs that were none of her concern," the brown-haired man responded with a sharp tone, his blue eyes focused on the young girl. "So this is between me and her."

"Afraid not," Cedric said as he and Greylock stepped up beside Baileywick, shielding the girl in turn. "You won't lay one hand on her."

"That's right," Greylock agreed, his wand pointed at the former steward. "And really, Slickwell, you should be ashamed. You're disgracing your family name."

Slickwell smirked as he eyed his former fellow worker. "Say what you will, Greylock, but I've set my sights on something grander these days. You want to work for that pompous jerk Magnus, be my guest. But I deserve better."

"You don't _deserve_ anything. You're supposed to _earn_ your keep, and quite frankly the castle was in a rough shape with you in charge. The new steward is ten times the man you ever were."

Sofia grabbed onto Cedric's hand and gave him a worried glance. She sighed in relief as he squeezed her hand encouragingly.

"But what does this have to do with Princess Sofia?" Baileywick challenged with a stern glare. "This girl did nothing to you."

"She called me out on my scheme in front of everyone! It's because of her I was fired and sent away!"

Cedric rolled his eyes. "Gee, then maybe you, I don't know, shouldn't have been so _stupid_ as to try stealing Baileywick's job in the first place. Everyone knows King Roland cherishes him and would be a fool to give up someone who actually _cares_ about the castle."

Sofia smiled at this statement. "See, Baileywick? Mr. Cedric cares about you!"

Baileywick smirked at the sorcerer's annoyed face. "Good to know."

"Hush up, I'm going for a moment here."

Slickwell grinned as the guards attempted to subdue him. "And _these_ are the buffoons you think will protect you, little princess?" He ducked and ran around the guards, sliding between their stances as he came up behind Sofia and grabbed her.

"Ahh! Mr. Cedric! Help!"

Cedric and Greylock whirled on them, holding their wands up to Slickwell.

"Ah-ah! I wouldn't if I were you." He smirked. "You use your wands on me, and you run the risk of injuring the poor princess, and we don't want that, do we?"

Baileywick scowled, stepping toward them as Slickwell stepped backwards. "What do you want from her?"

"Oh, it's not necessarily what the princess can give me… But it's what will happen to her if someone doesn't." He grinned. "You have one hour to bring me the Ruby of Renalda."

Sofia gasped. The Ruby of Renalda… Wasn't that the ruby James said had affected Amber a few months ago?

Greylock appeared to be perplexed. "What could you possibly want with that? The ruby is enchanted and nearly impossible to find."

"Well, that's not my problem, now is it?" He grinned. "One hour! Oh, and to make things easier, you'll find us in Rudistan. Don't come after her without it." He smirked and lifted up a strange stone, tossing it to the ground and vanishing with the youngest Enchancian princess.

"Sofia!" Cedric yelled, tossing a haphazard magic blast at the last location Slickwell had stood. He turned to the other two. "We have to go after her."

"Clearly," Greylock agreed with a sigh as he grasped his wand. "But how are we supposed to locate that blasted ruby? It could be anywhere by now."

"Um, excuse me," one of the guards began as he held up a hand to get their attention, which worked. "If you're talking about that necklace that Princess Amber was wearing a few months ago—the one that was draining her energy—then, if I remember correctly, a fairy from Princess Sofia's school used her wand to make it disappear."

The three guys blinked at him before looking at each other.

"A fairy who made it disappear," Baileywick pondered.

"It'd better not be that wretched Nettle," Cedric snapped, growling. "I've had about enough of that horrid woman."

"I'm certain it was probably Miss Flora," the steward responded calmly. "We must get to Royal Prep immediately and see if we can locate her." He nodded toward the guard. "Thank you, Reginald. Cedric, Greylock, come with me. We haven't a moment to lose."

"Let me go!" Sofia yelled as she struggled against Slickwell's hold. She screamed as he dropped her at last, but it wasn't where she was expecting. She looked around and realized she seemed to be in a dungeon of sorts. She'd never actually been in her family's dungeon before, so she was unsure what to make of the place. All she could tell was that it was dank and drafty. She glared up at the former steward, who stood outside the gates now with a smirk on his face. "You'll never get away with this, Slickwell. My friends will save me!"

"Your friends?" he challenged sarcastically. "Let's see: an old man who should have retired a quarter of a century ago, a near-sighted sorcerer who doesn't know when to be serious, and a bumbling sorcerer who would just as soon argue with his chums than be bothered to rescue anyone in particular? Yes, Princess Sofia. I wish you the best of luck with that." He chuckled. "Either way, your _friends_ have an hour to get the Ruby of Renalda to me."

She blinked and stepped back toward the wall, clutching her amulet. "And…what happens if they don't?"

His chuckle turned into a slightly sinister laugh as he walked away from the cell and out of the dungeon.

Sofia sighed and held tightly to her amulet. "Please, Mr. Cedric, Baileywick, Mr. Greylock…hurry!"

"Miss Flora!"

"Ahh!" Flora was rather surprised to see some unexpected guests appear in her office, and on a Saturday no less. With Merryweather and Fauna dealing with some paperwork in the library, she'd been alone and humming a joyful tune when the three visitors (she used the term quite lightly) barged in. She blinked upon seeing them. "Cedric! Uh, how may I help you?"

Cedric marched up to her. "Sofia has been kidnapped."

"Oh, dear…" She fluttered up from her seat. "It isn't Miss Nettle, is it?"

"No," Baileywick interjected with a sigh. "It's a deranged ex-steward who refuses take 'no' for an answer."

"Oh, Baileywick; and just who is the other gentleman with you?" the woman asked, glancing at the other sorcerer.

Cedric sighed and gestured to his friend/rival. "Greylock—royal sorcerer and royal pain in the rear of Rudistan."

" _Hey_! Look, _broomstick_ , we're all in this together, right?" Greylock huffed. "The least you could do is hold off on the insulting for an hour. Isn't Sofia your friend?"

"Yes, yes, you're right." Cedric looked back at Flora. "So, here's the issue: Slickwell, a horrid former steward who used to only have issues with Baileywick here, has kidnapped Sofia. He said we must get him the Ruby of Renalda, whatever that is, or else."

"The Ruby… Oh, dear…" She pondered the previous experience with the jewel. "That's the necklace that nearly drained Princess Amber of her life. I can't imagine what this Slickwell fellow plans to do with it, but I suspect it's nothing good."

"She's the _head_ mistress, isn't she?" Greylock joked while grinning toward Cedric.

The fairy put on a grim face, changing the other sorcerer's tone quickly. "Mr. Greylock, this is a matter of importance. If Slickwell gets hold of that jewel and uses it on anyone—namely Sofia—she could die."

Baileywick frowned. "Then we can't let him have it."

"But he said if we don't give it to him, then she'd be in danger anyway." Greylock put a hand under his chin as he sighed. "So what does that leave?"

Cedric suddenly smiled with a mischievous gleam in his eye. "Who says we have to give him the _real_ Ruby of Renalda?" He turned to the other sorcerer, who blinked.

"I don't quite follow, Cedric…"

"We're _sorcerers_ , Greylock. We do magic for a living. We could create a duplicate of the ruby and trick old Slickwell into believing he actually has the real thing."

Flora nodded. "I suppose you could, but you must make it look as authentic as possible. For him to know about it is rather odd, I must say. He must have some sort of accomplice or something. Either way, I implore you all to be extremely cautious. Something as dire as that ruby should not be taken lightly. I've actually sealed the real one away, but I do have a drawing you can use as an aid for creating the new one."

"And while they're doing that, what should I do?" Baileywick asked curiously.

"You can help me, Baileywick. I'll need a bit of help in searching for the drawing. I believe it's on the second shelf in the library, though I may be mistaken."

With the plan set, everyone got down to business to begin their plan of rescuing Sofia.

Meanwhile, Sofia sighed in her cell. She gazed down at her amulet, willing it to do something, but huffed in disbelief when nothing happened. A princess always came to her rescue when she was in trouble—usually if she had some sort of moral dilemma, save Rapunzel, Mulan, and Jasmine who actually rescued her from some sort of location. But now when she was _really_ in physical trouble, she seemed to be out of princesses.

"Hello! I know there are princesses who haven't given me advice yet! Merida! Anna! Somebody?" Still, she got no response. "Ugh…fine. I guess maybe my lesson this time is to…trust my friends?" She whimpered a little bit as she ran her hands along her arms, which were cold to the touch. "I know Mr. Cedric and Baileywick will save me, and Mr. Greylock will help, but…oh, I just hate being so _helpless_."

The princess stood up and paced back and forth in her cell before looking out the lone window she had, seeing a body of water across the way. "If only I were near the water, then I could get Oona to help me…" She frowned and folded her arms, sighing. "I guess all I can do is wait. And of all times for me not to have my wand with me…"

"Why is it _pink_?" Cedric glared at the Ruby of Renalda copy in disdain as Greylock stood scratching his head in confusion. "How did we mess up the color?"

"I don't know," Greylock returned with a shrug. "I thought for sure I had the color scheme just right. Hmm, maybe I added in too much white…"

The other sorcerer sighed. "Here, let's try this." He tapped the jewel quickly, changing it from pink to orange instead. "Oh, for Merlin's sake."

"It's like there's a color blocker on this thing or something." The brown-haired sorcerer picked up the jewel and glared at it. "Maybe it's cursed."

Cedric rolled his eyes. "It can't be cursed. We just _made_ it. And why exactly would there be a blocker on it? Oh, this doesn't make any sense!"

"Maybe Miss Flora can assist us. She seems to be pretty good with things like this, right?"

"I guess it couldn't hurt. The next color scheme will probably be polka-dot, and we won't be fooling _anyone_ with that."

Greylock grinned before snickering. "You're funny when you're under stress."

"Shut up."

Flora did indeed manage to assist the two sorcerers with their dilemma. A well-spoken spell—a proper one—could apparently solve even the most evasive of matters. To make it a bit more authentic, she filled the gem with a certain magic of its own, only to be produced when the wearer accessed it.

Baileywick compared the drawing with the fake ruby. "I can't even tell a difference."

"That's the point, isn't it?" Cedric handed the ruby to Greylock. "Here, wear this until we find Sofia."

The other sorcerer made a face. "It's not really my color, is it?"

Cedric frowned. "Greylock, would you take something seriously for once? We don't have time for this."

"Calm down, Cedric. I'm just joking." He grinned and accepted the ruby, putting it around his neck and sliding it inside his shirt for safe keeping. "Now our quest seems to turn to Rudistan."

"Will you three be all right?" Flora asked in concern. "The last thing we need is _four_ people being captured and all sorts of chaos breaking out."

Baileywick smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You've been more than enough help, Miss Flora. While slightly dubious in some cases, I do believe both Cedric and Greylock have the abilities to rescue the princess." His face fell into an annoyed stare as Greylock reached over to grab Cedric's wand, and Cedric retaliated with a growl and shoved him backwards. "…I think."

Flora chuckled. "If you say so. I wish you all luck."

With that the three companions vanished before the fairy's sight.

Sofia sighed as she heard the door to the dungeon open, and she blinked when Slickwell literally danced inside. She raised an eyebrow. "You're rather happy for being a shunned steward with a peculiar clumsy streak." She couldn't help the smirk that came to her face. She really _had_ been around Cedric too long.

Slickwell laughed at her mentioning before ceasing his dance steps and moving toward the cell bars, gripping them loosely. "I wouldn't be talking, Princess. I'm not the one locked away right now, am I?"

"My friends will be here soon enough."

"Oh, friends this! Friends that!" He scoffed. "Greylock and I were _friends_ once upon a time, and soon he became the favorite of King Magnus while I got shoved aside. Well, I'm not going to settle for second rate, which is why I preferred vying for Baileywick's position. In Enchancia, it seems to be quite the opposite: the steward is more preferred than the sorcerer."

"That's not true! Mr. Cedric and Baileywick both do great work for Dad, and he appreciates it." She rolled her eyes. "You're just mad because you did something bad and got caught. For future reference, maybe you shouldn't be so _obvious_ with your plans…"

He growled. "No one _knew_ about my plans until you found that pin I slipped onto Baileywick." He huffed. "You just got lucky."

Sofia smiled knowingly. "You're right. I'm a pretty lucky girl." She stood up and brushed off her dress. "So tell me, Slickwell, what's your plan for the Ruby of Renalda?"

The former steward grinned at her new stance. "Ah, you'd like to know, wouldn't you? But no! Nope, I'm not falling for that. People start spilling their plans and lower their defenses, and suddenly they're ceased from all actions. So nice try, Princess Sofia, but it's not going to work."

She shrugged. "Fine. It's just that it seems like just a boring and, honestly, ugly necklace to me."

Slickwell glared at her. "It's not just some _ugly_ necklace. You want to talk ugly, let's start with that amulet _you_ have."

"My dad gave this to me! Besides, it's way better than any other necklace I've seen." She held it tighter in her grasp. "Anything given with love is better than something stolen in greed."

"Whatever you say, Princess Know-It-All." He pulled out a pocket watch and smirked. "And ten minutes remain. So where are your friends?"

Sofia turned and murmured to herself, "Knowing Mr. Cedric's sense of direction, they probably got lost…"

"What was that?" He grinned a little more, seeing the annoyed glance she shot him.

"They'll be here," she said firmly. "By the way, you're the worst 'bad guy' I've ever met."

Slickwell blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." She smirked as she folded her arms. "You're just a normal human being with no magic whatsoever."

"Well, we can't _all_ be another Maleficent or Evil Queen, can we?"

Sofia blinked at his words and giggled.

"What?!"

"Why is it that when people think of 'bad guys,' the first ones out of their mouths happen to be 'bad girls?'" She continued giggling.

Slickwell grew annoyed. "It's not that funny! I fail to see why this matters. You're a horrible hostage."

She stopped giggling as she saw a course of magic out of the corner of her eye. "I know." She turned to her left and beamed. "Hi, Mr. Cedric!"

Slickwell blinked. "Huh?" He barely had time to react when a blast of magic knocked him onto his back. "OW!"

Cedric blew the end of his wand as Greylock magically unlocked the cell door, allowing Sofia to run over to them. "Not so tough without your clumsy pin, are you?" the Enchancian sorcerer inquired as he smirked down at the man.

"Oh, so it's going to be like that, eh?" He pulled himself up and glared at the group. "You forget, _friends_ , that I magically brought your dear princess here. And as you said yourself, Princess Sofia, I'm but a normal human being. So how was it that I brought you here?" He smirked, seeing the wheels in the girl's head turning.

Sofia blinked and looked up at Greylock. "Mr. Greylock?"

Greylock caught her intent and glared daggers at Slickwell. "You didn't?"

"Oh, but I did." He pulled out Greylock's spell book and grinned. "It's amazing what you people don't realize goes missing around this castle these days… I took this quite a few months ago as a backup."

Cedric looked toward his friend incredulously. "And you just _now_ realize it's missing!"

"Hey! I memorized every spell in that book! Haven't looked at it in quite a while!"

Baileywick grabbed Sofia and held her back. "Never mind that. You wanted the Ruby of Renalda, and we've brought it for you." He held his hand out to Greylock, who sighed and unlatched the necklace from his neck and handed it to the older man. "So here, take it." He tossed it to Slickwell, watching him observe it before smirking and putting it on.

"Well, for once, Baileywick, you've proven to be useful." He grinned. "I can feel the power… Oh, yes! And now, you might as well say your goodbyes, because with the power of the Ruby of Renalda, I will-!" He blinked as he suddenly croaked, his voice pretty much replaced by deep, guttural sounds.

Cedric smiled in amusement. "What was that? Sorry, I couldn't understand you over all the croaking noises you're making."

Slickwell growled, realizing he'd been deceived. "RIBBIT!" He gasped, clasping his hands over his mouth.

Sofia couldn't help the giggles escaping her now. "Mr. Cedric, what did you do to the ruby?"

"That isn't the real Ruby of Renalda of course, Sofia… I imagine when Greylock and I created the copy, Miss Flora may have added a bit of her own magic to it."

Slickwell stamped his foot as his cheeks grew red with anger. "RIBBIT, RIBBIT, RIBBIT!"

Greylock gave the man a deadpanned look. "Well, that's not a very nice thing to say." He smiled a little too happily and waved his wand, levitating Slickwell into the air. "Now, be gone, before we decide to have frog legs for supper." He muttered a spell, making Slickwell vanish—back to his original holding spot so he could no longer roam freely.

"Ew," Baileywick responded the final comment.

The Royal Sorcerer of Rudistan chuckled. "It was just a bluff, Baileywick. Mm, perhaps we should get the princess back to her castle now. It is getting rather late."

"Yes," Cedric agreed as Sofia took his hand. "What I'd like to know is where everyone else was during all of this. I mean, surely someone must have heard his loud mouth."

Greylock shrugged. "Last I heard, the royal family went on the same trip Sofia's family did."

"Hmm…" Baileywick massaged his forehead. "Let's get out of here."

Within the hour, everyone was back at the castle and eating supper together. It was almost as if nothing had happened.

One of the guards approached them carefully. "Um, Princess Sofia…" He saw the girl turn around and watch him warily. "You have…another few guests."

Cedric and Greylock immediately wielded their wands, while Baileywick held up the ladle he'd been using to serve the punch.

Sofia blinked. "Who…?"

At that moment, in walked Ruby and Jade, both of whom had been held back by a few other guards.

The girl sighed in relief and waved the guards away as the sorcerers and steward all lowered their 'weapons of choice.' She smiled. "It's fine. Thank you!" She looked toward her friends. "Hi, Ruby. Hi, Jade. I completely forgot about the slumber party tonight! Glad you could make it."

"What's with the extra security?" Jade asked as she rubbed her arm.

Sofia giggled. "It's a long story…" She gestured toward the chairs, indicating that the girls could take a seat and join them.

The end

A/N: I had _way_ too much fun with this story. I imagine Cedric and Greylock on a trip together would be hilarious…fighting all the way. And Baileywick would be the one to yell, "If you two don't stop this, I'll turn this flying coach around right now, and we'll go straight home!" Ah…the possibilities. :D Anyway! That's it for now. I may have a few more stories in me before returning to work next week. Hope you enjoyed, and see ya soon! ~AquaTurquoise


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